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Cecile Cooper correspondence, 1966-1979

Historical Highlights of the QCCHR Page 2

on Constitution and By-Laws worked diligently and under the chairmanship of John Origeby, with Cal Collendar as secretary, both of Moline, developed the document which today continues to serve as the guide for the organization. The preamble to our Constitution serves as a fitting memorial tribute to its author, Cal Collendar, whose death removed one of the most dedicated and faithful advocates of our Council.

Ten years ago this month, on October 18, 1956, a meeting was held at the Unitarian Church, which put the Council "on the road". Rev. A. J. Johnson, pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church of East Moline, was elected permanent Chairman, and guided by the activities of the Council for the next six years. He was assisted by his friend and colleague, Rev. Sharp, who later shared the responsibility of leadership as Iowa Co-Chairman of what became known as "the only interstate human relations agency in the U.S.A., organized in 1956 to produce facts and action to remedy whatever discriminations for reasons of race, religion or national origin in Rock Island County, Illinois, and Scott County, Iowa." The sudden death of Rev. Johnson in March of 1963 was a shock to the Council he helped organize and to the entire community.

Time does not permit a detailed account of the Council's leadership or its activities over the past ten years, however, in keeping with the purpose of this report, some of its efforts are worth recalling. Its first experiences in combatting discrimination, such as our encounter with the Davenport Police Commission over its refusal to employ Bill Cribs as a policeman--our successful challenge of the discriminatory policies of the local branch of the Comtometer Corporation School in Davenport over its refusal to honor the application of Harriet Davis for training, led to the Council adopting as a Number One goal, the establishment of Commissions on Human Relations by ordinance in Davenport, Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline. Our experience with the Rock Island Arsenal and its discriminatory treatment of Mrs. Ray Carter was a never-to-be-forgotten lesson on the importance of documentation.

The Quad Cities Council soon found its place in the family of human relations agencies in both Iowa and Illinois. This was particularly true in the still unresolved problem of widespread discrimination in housing. The Council's sub-committee on Freedom of Residence under the leadership of Jack Hageboeck and Dorothy Monahan, working with Mr. Don Frey, of Evanston, Ill., Chairman of the Illinois Freedom of Residence Committee, produced one of the highlights of the past ten years when they organized the Tri-State Conference on Fair Housing, held at Augustana College on May 18 and 19, 1962. The Conference went beyond its bounds when delegates from Minnesota and Indiana joined with representatives from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa and spent the two days in searching for solutions to this remaining obstacle to equality of opportunity for all our citizens.

I conclude this part of our tenth anniversary program by expressing the hope that this reminescing, this re-collecting of past events which form a small part of the Council's history, will urge us on to continue the work so necessary to fulfill the promise of the American Dream.

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on Constitution and By-Laws worked diligently and under the chairmanship of John Origeby, with Cal Collendar as secretary, both of Moline, developed the document which today continues to serve as the guide for the organization. The preamble to our Constitution serves as a fitting memorial tribute to its author, Cal Collendar, whose death removed one of the most dedicated and faithful advocates of our Council. Ten years ago this month, on October 18, 1956, a meeting was held at the Unitarian Church, which put the Council "on the road". Rev. A. J. Johnson, pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church of East Moline, was elected permanent Chairman, and guided by the activities of the Council for the next six years. He was assisted by his friend and colleague, Rev. Sharp, who later shared the responsibility of leadership as Iowa Co-Chairman of what became known as "the only interstate human relations agency in the U.S.A., organized in 1956 to produce facts and action to remedy whatever discriminations for reasons of race, religion or national origin in Rock Island County, Illinois, and Scott County, Iowa." The sudden death of Rev. Johnson in March of 1963 was a shock to the Council he helped organize and to the entire community. Time does not permit a detailed account of the Council's leadership or its activities over the past ten years, however, in keeping with the purpose of this report, some of its efforts are worth recalling. Its first experiences in combatting discrimination, such as our encounter with the Davenport Police Commission over its refusal to employ Bill Cribs as a policeman--our successful challenge of the discriminatory policies of the local branch of the Comtometer Corporation School in Davenport over its refusal to honor the application of Harriet Davis for training, led to the Council adopting as a Number One goal, the establishment of Commissions on Human Relations by ordinance in Davenport, Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline. Our experience with the Rock Island Arsenal and its discriminatory treatment of Mrs. Ray Carter was a never-to-be-forgotten lesson on the importance of documentation. The Quad Cities Council soon found its place in the family of human relations agencies in both Iowa and Illinois. This was particularly true in the still unresolved problem of widespread discrimination in housing. The Council's sub-committee on Freedom of Residence under the leadership of Jack Hageboeck and Dorothy Monahan, working with Mr. Don Frey, of Evanston, Ill., Chairman of the Illinois Freedom of Residence Committee, produced one of the highlights of the past ten years when they organized the Tri-State Conference on Fair Housing, held at Augustana College on May 18 and 19, 1962. The Conference went beyond its bounds when delegates from Minnesota and Indiana joined with representatives from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa and spent the two days in searching for solutions to this remaining obstacle to equality of opportunity for all our citizens. I conclude this part of our tenth anniversary program by expressing the hope that this reminescing, this re-collecting of past events which form a small part of the Council's history, will urge us on to continue the work so necessary to fulfill the promise of the American Dream.